Means for sealing bottles.



N0. 809,213. PATENTED JAN. 2-, 1906.

P. M. OSGOOD. MEANS FOR SEALING BOTTLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.20, 1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MEANS FOR SEALING BOTTLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1906.

Application filed March 20,1905. Serial No. 250,996.

T0 0.2]; whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK M. OSGOOD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Manchester, in the county of Hillsboro and State of New Hampshire, have invented an Improvement in Means for Sealing Bottles, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specifi cation, like numerals on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object to provide means whereby it will be impossible to empty, and therefore to refill, a bottle without destroying the characteristic feature by which the contents of the bottle are advertised or become known to the public.

It is a well-known fact that the bottles which contain proprietary medicines,high-grade bottled liquors, &c., are often refilled with a spurious and inferior article which is sold as the original.

My invention has for its object to prevent this. I accomplish this object by placing over the neck of the bottle a cap of some material which maybe readily broken and employing a locking device which automatically locks the cap to the bottle-neck, said lockingdevice being so positioned that it is impossible to remove the cap from the neck in order to open the bottle except by breaking said cap. The cap is designed to have on it the trade-name used to advertise the contents of the bottle, the name of the manufacturer, or any other distinctive mark by which the bottle contents are known, so that in breaking the cap the portion of the bottle which bears the label or other distinctive mark is destroyed.

The caps are designed to be applied to the bottles by the parties who fill them with the genuine material, and therefore a purchaser may be assured that he is buying the genuine article when the bottle has applied thereto one of these caps.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of the bottle, showing a cap embodying my invention in the act of being applied to the neck of the bottle, the cap being shown in vertical section. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the "cap when in position on the bottle, and Fig. 3 is a perspective View of one form of locking device.

3 designates a bottle having the usual neck 4.

5 designates the cap which is to be placed over the bottle-neck and locked thereon automatically, said cap inclosing the cork and being constructed so that it may have imprintgoods are sold.

ed or applied to its exterior a label, tradename, or any other distinctive mark. This cap may be made of any suitable material which can be brokensuch, for instance, as glass, porcelain, or similar fragile material. The cap may also be made of material, such as wood, which can be readily split, and in the present embodiment of the invention a wooden cap is shown. Any suitable way of automatically locking the cap to the bottle-neck so as to prevent said cap from being removed without its being broken may be employed without departing from the invention. As herein shown, said cap is provided with an interior chamber 6 of a size to receive the bottle-neck and has an interior inwardly-facing shoulder 7 near its open end.

The locking device herein shown is adapted to set over the cork 8 of the bottle and has one or more resilient arms 9, part or all of which are provided with shoulders or projections 10, adapted to engage a shoulder 11 on the bottle-neck.

The lower ends of the arms 9 normally spring outwardly from the bottleneck, as shown, and as the cap 5 is placed on the bottle said lower ends spring outwardly over, and thereby engage, the shoulder 7 as shown in Fig. 2, thus locking the cap to the bottleneck. When the cap is in place, it holds the shoulders or projections 10 on the locking member in engagement with the shoulder 11 on the bottle, and the resiliency of the arms 9 holds the ends thereof in engagement with the shoulder 7 of the cap. The cap therefore serves to lock the locking member onto the bottle, and the locking member serves to lock the cap in place, the two acting reciprocally on each other. The shoulder 11 is in this embodiment of the invention made by forming a groove in the bottle-neck; but this construction is notessential.

It will be noted that the length of the arms 9 and the position of the shoulder 7 are such that when the cap 5 is in place on the bottleneck, as seen in Fig. 2, the lower end thereof meets the body of the bottle, as shown at 13, thereby preventing any onefrom unlocking the cap by inserting instruments between the cap and bottle-neck.

Fig. 2 shows the parts as they are when the In order to open the bottle, it is necessary to remove the cap, and this only can be done by breaking it. Where the cap is made of glass or other fragile material, a simple blow on the cap will shatter it.

When

IIO

the eapis made of wood, as herein illustrated, I preferably provide the top of the cap with a saw-cut 14:, into which a chisel or similar instrument may be inserted for splitting the cap open. As soon as the cap is broken the locking device may be removed and the bottle opened as usual.

If the bottle is made perfectly plain and all the advertising matter or the name of the goods in the bottle is applied to the cap, it will be evident that when the cap is broken or destroyed the means for identifying the bottle is gone. The essential feature of my invention is a cap or similar device to be placed over the neck of a bottle and a locking device interposed between the cap and bottle-neck to lock the two parts together, so that the cap can be removed only by breaking it.

I find that the construction herein shown is effective and has the merit of being inexpensive to manufacture; but my invention is not limited to the precise construction shown.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A bottle the neck of which is provided with a groove, a cap to be placed over the bottle-neck, said cap having an interiorinwardlyfacing shoulder near its open end and a looking device presenting a resilient arm having a projection to enter said groove, the end of the arm being adapted to engage the shoulder in the cap and thereby lock the cap on the bottle-neck.

2. A bottle, the neck of which is provided with a groove, a cap to be placed over the bottle-neck, said cap having an interior, inwardlyfacing shoulder near its open end, and a looking device comprising resilient arms having projections to enter said groove, the ends of the arms being adapted to engage the shoulder in the cap and thereby lock the cap on the bottle.

3. A bottle, the neck of which is provided with a groove, a breakable cap to be placed over the bottle-neck, said cap having an interior, inwardly-facing shoulder near its open end, and a locking device comprising resilient arms having projections to enter said groove, the ends of the arms being adapted to engage the shoulder in the cap and thereby lock the cap on the bottle.

4. A bottle, the neck of which is provided with a groove, a Wooden cap to be placed over the bottle-neck, said cap having an interior, inwardly-facing shoulder near its open end, and a locking device comprising resilient arms having projections to enter said groove, the ends of the arms being adapted to engage the shoulder in the cap and thereby lock the cap on the bottle near its open end, said cap having a saw-cut in its opposite end.

In testimony whereofl have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FREDERICK M. OSGOOD.

Witnesses:

A. J. LANE, W. A. BURGESS. 

